Business Development

Marketing versus Sales

Business owners and managers are aware that increased sales create profit growth. Because of this, they invest a lot of time and energy into their marketing and sales. However, many businesses encounter problems because they don’t differentiate between marketing and sales.

Marketing should never be lumped in with sales. They both serve separate and essential purposes. Marketing strategies prepare the way for sales by promoting products and services to your targeted audience, learning how your customers think and feel about the products/services, and gaining name recognition by creating a company image. The purpose of marketing is to make the salesperson’s job easier and make them more successful.

Without marketing, the sales staff is trying to sell to an uneducated audience. Studies show that consumers need to be exposed to your product or service several times before they make a purchasing decision. You are setting yourself up for failure if you attempt to sell to a consumer without first marketing your company and products to them.

On the other hand, if your company has a clear brand identity or a promise that distinguishes you from all others in the market, the prospective consumer already recognizes your company when the salesperson comes to call. Previous marketing efforts have communicated your brand with consistent use of a logo, as well as promoted at least three selling points via advertisement and public relations strategies.

A Selling Point

A marketing system helps both of the branches that are responsible for sales growth—new business and existing business. The two most common reasons for a lack of growth in sales is the inability to increase the number of prospective customer leads and the failure to convert those leads into sales. It sounds simple to fix, but many companies make the mistake of laying the blame on their sales force.

If your number of sales leads is not increasing, it is because something in your marketing and advertising is not meeting its intended purpose. There are many factors that could influence this. It could be that your target market is out of focus, your advertising message needs rework or your media avenue should be changed.

Every member of your sales force must follow the same strategy. If that strategy is an ineffective one, it needs to be reevaluated and improved to meet your company’s needs.

Stagnated existing sales are primarily caused by losing good customers through dissatisfaction or failing to increase the amount or frequency of each transaction due to variables such as poor product selection.

We have written a detailed blog post on how to accelerate business growth with the seven methods to develop new business and the eight steps to implement the methods. We have even included a checklist for your convenience! You can find the article here: